


Lookin' For A Cause (But All I Got Was Camouflage)

by Jennsepticeye



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, How Do I Tag, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Pre-Season/Series 02, Season One Compliant, Slice of Life, Tenderness, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28344555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennsepticeye/pseuds/Jennsepticeye
Summary: Slices of life of Dave and Klaus during the warKlaus’s first thought is ‘what the fuck?’  his second thought is ‘that soldier’s pretty hot.’ and thirdly he thinks ‘where and when am I?’Vietnam. He’s in Vietnam and it’s 1968. It’s a deep misunderstanding that ends with a gun in his hands fighting a war he knows nothing about.Two days later the hot soldier boy, Dave, finds him emptying his stomach in the bushes.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Lookin' For A Cause (But All I Got Was Camouflage)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Too Dumb To Die by Green Day

Klaus’s first thought is  _ ‘what the fuck?’  _ his second thought is  _ ‘that soldier’s pretty hot.’ _ and thirdly he thinks _ ‘where and when am I?’ _

Vietnam. He’s in Vietnam and it’s 1968. It’s a deep misunderstanding that ends with a gun in his hands fighting a war he knows nothing about. Two days later the hot soldier boy, Dave, finds him emptying his stomach in the bushes.

“Hey man, you’re not looking too good.” He says.

Klaus spits. “Oh, well thank you for the observation.”

“How long has it been?”

“What?”

“You’re not the first guy I’ve seen around here on the wrong side of withdrawal. When was your last hit?” 

Observant motherfucker. “Three days ago.”

“Right in the thick of it then.” He pulls Klaus upright, “Come on, let's get you back on your feet. Some water and rations, you’ll be right as rain.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Ain’t got nothing but each other out here. Can’t have a soldier with the shakes watching my six.” He says, like it’s obvious.

In the ten months Klaus is there, Dave is often the reason he stays sober. It sucks, but Klaus has people counting on him. It’s a nice change from home. For once his power is actually a gift instead of a curse. Spirits scream at him, warning him of traps and mines, begging him not to make the same mistakes that they did. It gets him a reputation among the other soldiers, but mostly Klaus is just glad that it keeps them alive.

“Hey, Hargreeves, me and the others are going drinking tonight. You want to come with?” Dave asks.

If Klaus is being honest, no. He doesn’t want to go drinking. He’s exhausted from adrenaline crashes and Smith has been bitching about his death all day.

“I think I’ll pass.” He says finally.

“C’mon Spook. You’ve earned a night out. It’ll be fun.” Lots of the men call him spook, but there’s something about the way Dave says it, paired with his pretty blue eyes that makes it impossible for Klaus to say no.

“Alright fine.” At the very least the booze will quiet the dead for the night.

The bar scene is universal, be it Saigon 1968 or New York 2019. It’s a scene Klaus is familiar with. He lets himself get lost in shots and beer and music he barely recognizes.

Logically he knows that in 1968 being queer or whatever is illegal. Still, he can’t take his eyes off of Dave. Dave who keeps smiling at him, and being nice to him. Klaus figures he’s only seeing what he wants to see, but it’s nice to have the attention all the same.

“Shit, you can hold your booze, Hargreeves!” Dave exclaims as Klaus downs his fifth shot in under an hour.

“What do you think I started with? Certainly wasn’t heroin.” he replies, raising his glass.

“I’ll drink to that.” Dave says, nudging Klaus with his shoulder.

They dance and dance and dance until they’re both dead on their feet. They end up in a back room, filled with smoke of their own making and covered in sweat. Klaus is pretty drunk and Dave looks really good like this. He’s all loose limbed and pretty.

They’re standing close, like really close. If someone were to walk in right now, Klaus isn’t sure how he would explain, but he likes this. He likes Dave.

_ ‘I want to kiss him’  _ he thinks.

Dave’s hands are covered in calluses and scars but they’re gentle on Klaus’s face. Reverent.

_ ‘I really want to kiss him’  _ he thinks, and he does.

Dave kisses him back, leans down so Klaus doesn’t have to reach and  _ oh… _

Klaus has never been kissed like this before. He’s used to aggression and hunger, and being shoved into walls. Dave kisses Klaus like he matters, like he’s the only thing that matters in the whole world. Soft and gentle.

“How about we get ourselves a room, soldier.” Klaus asks, barely above a whisper,

“Sounds like a fine idea, Spook.” He hisses Klaus one last time and then they’re off.

~*~

The bed is lumpy, springs sticking out in places, but it’s a cloud compared to army cots and wet mud. They’re clumsy and giggling like school-boys, fumbling and shushing each other.

“Jesus, you’re incredible.” Dave says, once their clothes are strewn around the room, and they’ve flopped over in exhaustion. Klaus blushes all the way down to his chest. Dave is going to be the death of him. Klaus hadn’t even realized how much he wanted this, to be held and coveted. To be looked at like he’s worth something.

For once the thousands of ghosts are completely silent. The room is empty save for him and Dave, and Klaus doesn’t think it’s just the alcohol keeping them at bay.

It’s too hot to cuddle, but Dave is still there when he wakes up, still sleeping even. He looks sweet like this. So much of their time is spent screaming and afraid, it’s rare to see him so relaxed.

Dave opens his eyes, then immediately squeezes them shut again, groaning in pain as the sunlight aggravates his hangover. He glances at Klaus, smiling.

“Morning, beautiful.”

“Morning, handsome.” Klaus replies. He wants to kiss Dave, but his mouth tastes like fermented garbage, and he doesn’t need to share that with anyone. “What time is it?”

“Too fucking early.” Dave grumbles, fumbling for his watch and squinting at it. “Quarter past seven?”

“Yikes, how long do you think we have before Chavez sends the search party?”

“Roll call’s at eight, Spook. We have to get moving.” He kisses Klaus on the corner of the mouth and goes to roll out of bed. Klaus grabs him by the wrist.

“Wait, Dave. I gotta know we’re on the same page here.” Ben would be so proud of his proper communication skills. Unfortunately, Ben hadn’t come with him to the past. “Is this… are we gonna be like a thing or is this going to be something we pretend didn’t happen?”

“Do you want us to be a thing?”

Klaus honestly isn’t sure. He’s never had anything serious befre, never had anything beyond casual sex and shared highs. Dave is different, though. For starters, he isn’t a junkie, and he treats Klaus like more than just an object. They just click, on and off the battlefield.

“I’d like to try.” He says finally. “I mean, this clearly isn’t the greatest place to start a relationship, but maybe we can make it work. As long as that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.” He smiles. 

“Awesome.” He must look like a loser, naked as the day he was born grinning like the Cheshire cat. Dave throws a pillow at him.

“Get your ass up Klaus. And put on some pants.”

Klaus groans. “If I must.”

~*~

Klaus is freaking out. He can’t remember how it started but now it’s dark and the spirits are screaming at him.  _ Screaming, screaming, screaming.  _ He’s terrified and he can’t make them quiet, can’t make them shut up.  _ Please, please stop yelling! _

“Klaus, listen to me. It’s okay.”

He can’t breathe. The ghosts are taking all the air.  _ Why are they taking the air? _

“Klaus, Spook. You’re okay, You’re safe. I need you to breathe for me.”

The crypt is cold, the floor, the walls, the air. The dead make everything cold. Klaus wants a blanket. He wants his mom. He wants his dad to tell him he can come out now. And everyone is still screaming.

“Klaus whatever you’re seeing it’s not real. Klaus!”

Dave? Why is Dave in the crypt? He can’t be here. He needs to leave. It’s not safe.

“Klaus, come on sunshine.”

There are arms around him, holding him, keeping him safe. It’s not cold, it’s sweltering, his whole body is covered in sweat. He’s not in the crypt, he’s in the barracks in Vietnam, which is only marginally better. Dave is holding him.

“You with me?” Dave asks.

Klaus nods, taking a few deep breaths. His heart is racing and his lungs ache and his skin burns with mosquitos. He hates mosquitos.

“C’mon Spook, let's go for a walk.”

Klaus lets Dave pull him to his feet and walks outside. It’s pitch dark out. By the time they come to a stop in a clearing Klaus’s breathing has evened out and his legs feel less shaky underneath him. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

Klaus shrugs, lighting a cigarette. “Shitty childhood, what can I say?”

“Sounded like more than that.  _ Looked  _ like more than that. You were talking, begging to be let out.”

Klaus hums, faking disinterest.

“Where were you?”

“The crypt, like a mausoleum in a graveyard. My old man used to lock me in overnight.”

“Why?” Dave knows that often people are cruel just to be cruel, no real reason why, but he wants to know what kind of excuse Klaus’s father could have given to justify such abhorrent treatment.

Klaus shrugs, laughing humorlessly. He takes a long drag from his cigarette. They lean into each other, the nights in Vietnam are strangely cool this time of year. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I have my shit too, Hargreeves. You got too much on your shoulders, let me take some.”

“You’re a poetic bastard, aren’t you.” 

“Occasionally” He says.

“Do you believe in ghosts, Dave?”

“Like the dead hangin’ around and haunting shit? Can’t say for sure whether I do or not, but my ma used to swear up and down that my gran stuck around.”

“I see them, the dead, or whatever you want to call them, wandering around. They talk to me.”

Dave doesn’t say anything, giving Klaus room to continue.

“I’ve been able to see them since I was a little kid. Scared the shit out of me. The first guy I ever saw had been killed in a car accident. He was covered in glass and blood, his entire rib cage was crushed. They all have something to say. ‘I was murdered’ or ‘tell my husband I love him.’” Klaus takes another drag from his cigarette. “They were the reason I started doing drugs. I couldn’t hear them if I was high.”

Dave wraps an arm around Klaus’s waist. It’s far too dark for anyone to see them out here.

Klaus laughs sardonically. “Rightfully, I was terrified of them, but my dear old dad thought I was being childish. So, he would lock me in the crypt with super angry spirits to help me get over it. Every time I thought he was coming to let me out, he’d ask me if I’d gotten over my fear. If he thought I hadn’t he’d leave me for another three hours.”

Klaus tells Dave all of this plainly, like it hasn’t fucked him up. Dave wants to cry for him, because he believes every word. And Klaus… Klaus is tensing like he’s scared that Dave is going to start laughing at him.

“That’s horrible.” Dave says. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like.”

“You believe me?” Klaus asks, eyes wide.

“Sure. Probably one of the weirdest things I’ve heard, but not by much.” 

Klaus laughs, snubbing out his cigarette. “You really are something else, Dave. How did you end up in a place like this?”

“Enlisted. I didn’t have much going on back home, and I figured I’d be drafted eventually, so I just signed on.”

“Bonowitz, you need to shut the fuck up.” Klaus hisses over his shoulder. 

“Pardon?”

Klaus huffs. “Bonowitz has been going on and on about a fortune buried in his backyard, and Carlson keeps pestering me about mailing his harmonica to his sister.”

“You see them all the time?” Dave chuckles, startled.

“How do you think I know where all the mines are? The dead tell me, and god damn are they really persistent about it. Funny that after all these years of pretending my abilities didn’t exist, and getting high, being here is the first time in years that I’ve been any sort of  _ useful.  _ Still sucks though, seeing the women and children and soldiers, all covered in blood.”

“I—” Dave doesn’t know what to say to that, so he doesn’t say anything. He just pulls Klaus close and kisses the top of his head. The other man doesn’t hesitate to tip his head up and lock their lips together.

Dave has never met anyone who kisses like Klaus. Klaus kisses like he’s drowning and Dave is his air, like he’s starving for it, like Dave is a lifeline. Dave likes, loves even, the way that Klaus makes him feel. It’s like standing on a ledge and knowing with absolute certainty, that someone will catch him.

“We should head back, Spook. Before someone realizes how long we’ve been gone.” Dave says eventually.

“Why can’t we just sleep out here tonight? The weather is great.”

“‘Cause we didn’t bring nets or DDT, and we’re being eaten alive as it is.”

“Fine, in a minute then.” Klaus sighs. “Thank you.”

“For what, sweetheart?” He’s standing behind Klaus now, hands tucked under his stained t-shirt,  _ Hello  _ and  _ Goodbye  _ overlap his own hands. It’s a nice little bubble they’ve created.

“For making me feel necessary, for wanting me.” He shrugs. “For making me feel at home.”

Dave presses a kiss behind Klaus’s ear. “I love you too, Klaus.”

Klaus laughs, turning to kiss Dave one final time before pulling away. “Alright you sap, let’s head back.”

~*~

“What are you going to do when the war ends?” Klaus asks, when they’re eight months in, hunkered down in a foxhole.

“When my tour ends? I don’t know.” It’s dark, and Klaus hears more than sees Dave shrug. “What about you?”

“I don’t have a family to go back to, so I’ll probably get a job and try to find somewhere to stay.” He replies.

“You don’t have folks waiting for you stateside?” There’s no pity in his voice, it’s just a question.

“Nah, dear old dad died before I got here, and my siblings are kind of estranged. We don’t talk much outside of funerals. I didn’t even get invited to my sister’s wedding.”

“Then it’s settled.” Dave says.

“What is?”

“After our tours are up. We’ll find a place together. I’ve always wanted to move to Montana. Maybe I’ll get a teaching job.”

Klaus laughs, nothing more than a short huff of breath. “Teaching, huh? Yeah, I can see it. I was home-schooled but I feel like you’d be good with little gremlins.”

Dave snickers. “I seemed to do just fine with my little sister. What about you? What would you do?”

Klaus hesitates, rubbing his hands together. “I never really thought about it. When I was a kid everything was about the Academy. There were never any options. After that I was living from hit to hit to rehab. I never really thought I had a future. I dunno.”

Dave makes a sad noise, so Klaus is quick to amend. “Maybe I’ll become an actor like my sister. I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic.”

“Got that right, Spook. You’d be a total diva.”

“You wound me Dave. I am not a diva.” Klaus replies indignantly, even though he knows Dave is right.

“Are too. I bet the movie people would make you wear gloves to cover up those tattoos of yours.”

“Movie people? You mean directors?”

Dave kicks him lightly on the hip. “Kiss my ass.”

“You wish.”

“Fuck off, Hargreeves.” His tone gets soft. “Tell me about your siblings?”

“What?”

“I want to hear about your family. They sound interesting.”

Klaus heaves a put upon sigh, but there’s no heat behind it. “Fine. The first one is named Luther. Huge dude, very strong...”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed these little vignettes of Klaus and Dave. If you did, maybe think about leaving kudos and maybe even a comment. 
> 
> I'm trying to complete a bunch of WIPs before new years, and this is 4/17 so I got a long way to go :)


End file.
